2013 Lyme/Old Lyme Auxiliary Garden Tour

Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 Lyme/Old Lyme Garden Tour, taking place June 14 & 15 at private homes in Lyme and Old Lyme Connecticut. Tucked away amind the rolling hills and stone walls of the Lyme and Old Lyme countryside, these six gardens abound with natural beauty, both flora and fauna. Here the homeowners nurture vegetables, herbs, perennials, and annuals alongside native trees, shrubs, and marsh grasses; and wild deer, osprey, and even the occasional bald eagle are known to frequent this part of the Connecticut River Valley, several of the gardens also feature chickens, horses, and even a koi pond. Each of the gardens on the Lyme/Old Lyme Garden Tour offers a unique perspective on gardening along the shoreline in Connecticut and together they provide a fitting welcome to a long-awaited summer!

The six garden's in the 2013 Lyme/Old Lyme Garden tour include a working farm, and estate on Hamburg Cove, an architectural gem overlooking the Connecticut River, and a garden with its own putting green! Three of these properties boast impressive views of the Connecticut River and its tributaries; as an added bonus, one of the homes is also open to tourgoers.

This year's Lyme/Old Lyme Garden Tour takes place on Friday June 14th and Saturday June 15th, 2013. The self-guided driving tour runs from 10am to 4pm both days (rain or shine) and visitors should allow at least three hours to complete the tour. Boxed lunches ($15), catered by Old Lyme's own Coffee's Country Market, will be available once again with advance reservation (by June 7); and the popular Garden Boutique will tempt visitors with an array of unique and distinctive items for home and garden. Educational talks, included in the admission price, will feature gardening experts speaking on horticultural topics.

Tickets for the 2013 Lyme/Old Lyme Garden Tour are available now at the advance-purchase price of $20, on the agency's website (www.childandfamilyagency.org) and at the Bowerbird, Old Lyme; they may also be obtained by sending a check and SASE to P.O. Box 324, Old Lyme, CT 06371, or by visiting the Child & Family Agency office at 255 Hempstead Street, New London. (If ordering lunch, please specify the day you will attend). Group sales (six or more) are available. For more information call 860-443-2896 ext. 901. Tickets will also be available on the day of the tour (at $25) at each garden location (Exit 70 off I-95; follow signs).

All proceeds from the 2013 Lyme/Old Lyme Garden Tour will benefit the many services and capital projects of the Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, a prive, non profit organization dedicated to the well-being and development of all children and their families, with emphasis on the unmet needs of childen lacking physical, emotional, and intellectual care and nurturing. With offices in New London, Essex and Groton, Child & Family Agency is the largest nonprofit children's service provider in southeastern Connecticut. For more information, see www.childandfamilyagency.org